Secondary impact?

Bobw

Bobw

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Just watched a M Smith interview with Hamlin. Hamlin says Nascar has examined his car and believes his injury came from the secondary impact when the car came down after hitting the non-safer barrier wall at 150-60-?plus mph.
Maybe so but would the car have landed so hard if a safer barrier had been there to absorb some of the energy? Just MHO but it looks to me like Nascar is attempting to absolve itself of blame.
How long do you think it'll be before "suspension" type seats are mandated? IIRC monster trucks and offroad racers use them.
 
Not too long from now, I say.

And for the record, it should be very obvious that if there was a safer barrier in the inside California wall, Hamlin would have been fine.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if they came up with another safety feature for the car. It doesn't cost them, the car builders have to absorb the cost. They make a big deal about the safer barrier, when it happens to be in the right place, and lie and alibi when it isn't there. What's next, energy absorbing bumpers?
 
I must be wrong I guess,..... I figured it was the way the car hit the upward pavement before the wall compressed his spine fractions of a second before impact to wall. But was he not weak in the back to start with?

As far as safety advancements go, I'm all for it,.........but starting to wonder why I pay money to watch drivers run around in spring loaded sponge balls with no real risk for injury. Not that I ever wanted to see a driver hurt, but heck I do believe I respected the danger of their job.

I guess maybe that's why I watch Bull riding now,........... Now we are talking brave brave sporting men doing a sport that I would never attempt out of fear of extreme injury or death.
 
Racing has always had the risk of injury or even death. Sanctioning bodies, Nascar, require require cars to be built to their rules and pass a tech inspection before being allowed on the track, the same track that some have been in use for 20- plus years without major safety improvements.
IOW while speeds have increased dramatically the responsibilty remains on the racer to provide a safe vehicle while racing on a antiquated out-dated track.Putting safer barriers where a cars usually hit does not include where it may hit.
Mikey's crash at Bristol, Parks at Pocono are two good examples. Nascar came back with "who'da thunk' then rectified the situation. Time for Nascar to start some serious 'thunking' and realize no matter how slight the chance there is a chance. Time for them to open the wallet and start looking at every track.
 
Contactpatch said:
I must be wrong I guess,..... I figured it was the way the car hit the upward pavement before the wall compressed his spine fractions of a second before impact to wall. But was he not weak in the back to start with?

As far as safety advancements go, I'm all for it,.........but starting to wonder why I pay money to watch drivers run around in spring loaded sponge balls with no real risk for injury. Not that I ever wanted to see a driver hurt, but heck I do believe I respected the danger of their job.

I guess maybe that's why I watch Bull riding now,........... Now we are talking brave brave sporting men doing a sport that I would never attempt out of fear of extreme injury or death.
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Watch sx/mx and some dragboat racing. Constant danger. Those warriors demand respect!
 
Seems like compressible seat support structure in the vertical "Y" direction would fairly easy to implement without a weight penalty. Even if it did require additional metal, it would be low in the center of the car where they want it anyway. Aircraft seats are qualified to withstand 16 g's, and accomplish that with crushable legs under the seat. I haven't seen any figures showing how hard Denny landed (okay I only scanned Jayski), but if that data is available, NASCAR should have implemented a spec before now.

Install more SAFER barriers first!
 
Racing cars at those speeds will never be completly safe.
My guess would be the Hans device saved his life, but that landing probably broke his back.
A safer barrier would still be a good idea even though they tend to bounce off those kinda like jumping up and down on a diving board.
 
This is what happens when you go up a ramp before hitting the wall. It changed the angle to more of a downward into the seat compression of the back rather than foward and into the belts. The seat slams upward and tilts, compressing Dennys back. Then when he hits the wall, Denny's back is compressed further because he's tilted back when he hits. His back is then compressed a 3rd time when the car springs back off the wall, and a 4th time when it lands hard.
 
FenderBumper said:
This is what happens when you go up a ramp before hitting the wall. It changed the angle to more of a downward into the seat compression of the back rather than foward and into the belts. The seat slams upward and tilts, compressing Dennys back. Then when he hits the wall, Denny's back is compressed further because he's tilted back when he hits. His back is then compressed a 3rd time when the car springs back off the wall, and a 4th time when it lands hard.
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I was thinking the same thing.. he wouldn't have gone up as much if there wasn't a hill before the wall.. I don't get why that's even there.. More cost than to not have it and it caused a broken back. Regardless though, even with the hill if there would have been a safer barrier he would not have bounced off the wall as much and wouldn't have been air born in the first place.
 
Nascar needs to become pro-active and move away from being re-active. Neil Bonnet, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and John Nemechek all died from basil skull fractures. Nascar did squat. Only when a icon of the sport, Sr, tragically died of the same injury did Nascar get off it's ass and do something. But they put it all on the teams, mandating the new,improved COT. Yeah, the COT.
Safer barriers came out in 2002 but it took until 2005 for Nascar to install them at most tracks. And they installed them where a car was likely to hit, not where it's possible for a car to hit.
Both outer and inner walls should have safer barriers.
 
Speaking about safety. A shout out to the people responsible for the creation of the fire suppressant system. Job well done! I have a feeling Kurt would agree.

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Actually, I thought Kurt did a great job of not blowing a gasket, shouting, stopping his feet and calling anyone and everyone any vile name that might come to mind.
Kudos to Kurt for remaining calm in the fire and reacting sensibly in a serious situation. And kudos to Kurt for remaining calm. I hope he can stay that way and comes back to do some seriously good racing.
 
Bobw said:
Just watched a M Smith interview with Hamlin. Hamlin says Nascar has examined his car and believes his injury came from the secondary impact when the car came down after hitting the non-safer barrier wall at 150-60-?plus mph.
Maybe so but would the car have landed so hard if a safer barrier had been there to absorb some of the energy? Just MHO but it looks to me like Nascar is attempting to absolve itself of blame.
How long do you think it'll be before "suspension" type seats are mandated? IIRC monster trucks and offroad racers use them.
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The wall he hit has never been hit previously. Thats why there is NO safer barrier. BUT.....WE ALL AGREE THAT IT SHOULD HAVE HAD ONE.....Unfortunately denny drove HIMSELF into that wall. Watch the tape again with an OPEN MIND. As Logano drove into the side of denny and was actually passing him,denny made a decision to turn LEFT into Logano's right rear qtr. As denny did this he MASHED the gas, launching the car toward the infield (evedent by the white smoke from the REAR TIRES ONLY) He then realized his MISTAKE, BUT it was too late......The data aquisition will show g force @ impact, it will also show the engine rpm @ 9000+ within 1.5-2 seconds prior to impact....He drove HIMSELF into that wall because of RAGE..................
 
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